Iran Reports 11,000 New Covid Cases, 41 Deaths

The daily tally of Covid cases across Iran jumped beyond the 11,000 mark on Tuesday and overnight mortalities rose to 41, the Health Ministry’s daily update said. 
Daily infections climbed from Monday’s 9,700 by 12.8% to 11,035, the highest daily record since late February, ISNA reported. 
Overnight deaths jumped by 24% from 33 on Monday to 41 on Tuesday, the highest record since mid-April.
Head of the national science committee against Covid, Hamid Reza Jamaati, said the number of active cases and hospitalizations had increased by four times compared to a week earlier. 
“Therefore, it’s necessary for people to get booster shots and strictly follow safety measures,” he added, pointing out that proper ventilation, social distancing and wearing face masks were still the top three protocols that provide effective protection against the virus. 
In the past month, a contagious subvariant of Omicron, dubbed BA.5, has been circulating across the country. The variant can evade antibodies produced by vaccination and prior infection, making it highly transmissible.
BA.5 is now the dominant variant in the country, accounting for more than 80% of all active cases. 
Jamaati noted that infection with the new variant did not guarantee protection anymore, unlike previous strains. 
“With the previous variants, the body’s immune system would prevent reinfection. This is mostly not the case with Omicron variants.”
According to the official, individuals could get reinfected with Omicron variants only four weeks after the initial infection.